Review: What Light by Jay Asher

What Light by Jay Asher [cover] Title: What Light
Author: Jay Asher
Publisher: Pan Macmillan Children’s
Original Release Date: 20th October 2016
Pages: 256
Read it in: 2 Days
Source: For Review from publisher

Synopsis: Goodreads

Sierra’s family runs a Christmas tree farm in Oregon—it’s a bucolic setting for a girl to grow up in, except that every year, they pack up and move to California to set up their Christmas tree lot for the season. So Sierra lives two lives: her life in Oregon and her life at Christmas. And leaving one always means missing the other.

Until this particular Christmas, when Sierra meets Caleb, and one life eclipses the other.

By reputation, Caleb is not your perfect guy: years ago, he made an enormous mistake and has been paying for it ever since. But Sierra sees beyond Caleb’s past and becomes determined to help him find forgiveness and, maybe, redemption. As disapproval, misconceptions, and suspicions swirl around them, Caleb and Sierra discover the one thing that transcends all else: true love.

My Review:

Sierra’s family ups and moves, from Oregon, every Christmas period, to sell Christmas trees on their Tree Lot in California. Strange. The whole idea of moving an entire family away at Christmas to sell Christmas trees was weird to me. But I trust in Jay Asher. So as soon as the book was put up for review, I had to get my hands on it. I was so grateful and lucky that Macmillan Children’s Book’s sent me a copy so I could read this early – it’s such a shame that it’s only now that I’m getting around to writing a full review for it.

Sierra was a weird character, but one that I enjoyed. She used to love the time they spent in California, but now as she’s starting to grow up, she’s making friends in Oregon and has a life there and leaving it for the tradition of selling trees. The problem with her leaving is that she had two separate lives. And when she finds out there is a chance that one of those lives will be coming to an end, she’s torn between whether that’s a good thing or not.

Why? Well, a boy of course. Meet Caleb. Caleb has a strange history and he is someone you don’t want to get involved with. And Sierra, not living in California all year round, has no idea of his history and so sort of befriends him. And as an audience, we also don’t know his history and so honestly, I like him. I think he’s a great character, he has flaws and yet is so kind and lovely.

I think Asher made some really interesting characters and as far as a Christmas story, I really enjoyed this one. It has a lot of focus being kind to everyone, there are even some occasions where some of the characters are nice to people who honestly aren’t nice back. But I really liked how the characters were able to make their own decisions about each other, and events in the novel.

I liked this story! And I think it’ll be a thing I read every year at Christmas.

4 Stars